Aaaaaaaah! was featured in The Sunday Times’ Culture magazine on 20th September – Monkey business – The actors go ape in a new movie that has grunts instead of gags. It’s already a cult hit. Click below to read the article. (Thanks to Lärwi for the scan)
An interesting new interview with, Toyah’s former PR person, Judy Totton.
Getting the right publicity for concert tours and festival appearances is a skill, and, despite the open internet field provided by Facebook and Twitter, some directed guidance and good old common sense remain valuable assets
Who are you?
Judy Totton of Judy Totton Publicity. I’m based in London and work in the UK, though I do have media contacts overseas. I promote big events, charity shows, companies and theatre, as well as artists releasing albums or touring. Some of my current clients are Bill Wyman, who has just released his first UK solo album in 33 years, Joan Armatrading on her last big world tour, Andy Fairweather Low and his band The Low Riders, Joe Brown and Paul Brady. I’ve represented many artists from all genres over the years and been involved with big festivals including Blenheim Palace and 11 years of Castle Donington Monsters of Rock.
How did you end up where you are now?
I started out in music publicity at Magnet Records. After two years there I joined CBS where I worked with a wide variety of artists from The Jacksons to ABBA, with John Cooper Clarke, The Only Ones, The Vibrators and many more in between. By the late 1970s Epic records was being split away from CBS and a lot of internal changes were happening. I wasn’t sure what to do, and it was artist agent Ian Flukes who suggested I set up my own company.
That was 1979. John Cooper Clarke and The Only Ones came with me and within a month I was approached by Status Quo. Toyah soon followed and then Haircut 100 and Orange Juice. From there I never looked back.
• Continue reading at PSN Europe.
A new interview with Toyah, published today, by UK Music Reviews.
Toyah Willcox, singer–songwriter chats with Kevin Cooper about her first appearance on Top Of The Pops, touring with The Humans, the release of her new film AHHHHH!, and performing at The Flashback Festival in Clumber Park.
Toyah Willcox is an English singer-songwriter and actress. In a career spanning more than thirty years, she has had fifteen Top 40 singles, released over 20 albums, written two books, appeared in over forty stage plays and ten feature films, and voiced and presented numerous television shows.
More recently she has formed a band called The Humans, which she fronts. She also tours with her own acoustic set and is heavily involved with The Flashback and Rewind Festivals. An incredibly busy lady, it was a privilege for Kevin Cooper to have the opportunity to catch up with her for a chat and this is what she had to say.
Hi Toyah how are you?
Hello Kevin I’m good thanks for asking.
So tell me, just how is life treating Toyah at this moment in time?
It’s very good Kevin, I am so busy that I am either spending twenty hours per day in my office or I am travelling to a show. Honestly, I have never been busier but don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining, I am incredibly grateful. It is fabulous and everything is so interesting. I don’t like doing just one thing, I like to have a lot of variety and at the moment I have got that. I am currently filming a drama for the BBC; I am promoting a new movie, and I have another movie being released over in Berlin in November, and so it is just very, very busy. And thankfully the shows are going wonderfully well too.
• Continue reading at UK Music Reviews.
Toyah Willcox has been pushing the boundaries of creativity for over 3 decades. Whether it’s through music or performance, she has never shied away from following her instincts. Her current creative project with The Humans is about experimenting with storytelling through sound. Toyah tells me “sonically it’s like nothing you’ve ever heard before because we’re very bass driven. I absolutely love the bass as an instrument of tonal beauty. With this band I wanted to make sure there
was nothing competing with the frequency but the voice work. So the voice sits upon this very masculine bass.” The juxtaposition of a feminine vocal and dominant percussive instruments gives The Human their unique sound and breaks down musical boundaries.
• Continue reading at Photo Groupie.
An interesting new interview with Robert Fripp was published in The Telegraph today. The article includes a couple of references to Toyah.
Robert Fripp, interview: ‘I’m a very difficult person to work with’
Guitarist Robert Fripp influenced David Bowie and Peter Gabriel but it’s only the latest revival of his band King Crimson that has brought out his happy side
… He’s explaining the finer details of this protracted wrangle when he suddenly catches sight of his other half, emerging from the driveway of their home. Toyah waves over, he waves back and even digs out his camera to take a picture.
“There’s my lovely wife, driving off in my car,” he muses, almost to himself. “I must’ve done something right to have Toyah as my wife. She’s a lot sharper than me, she has a very fine critical intelligence.”
• Continue reading at The Telegraph.
Singer Toyah Willcox: “I’m no sociopath” as she chats ahead of a gig in Stroud
Conducting an interview can often feel like an odd form of psychotherapy in which you sit your subject down and probe at their personal life, hoping all the while that they’ll bare their soul and somehow thank you for the privilege.
Invariably in an increasingly media savvy, PR-managed and image conscious world, it doesn’t quite work out like that.
Now and again, however, there comes a breath of fresh air who doesn’t want to engage in a banal cat-and-mouse duel. Instead, in the case of singer and actress Toyah Willcox, they’ll be happy to speak their mind.
• Continue reading at the Gloucestershire Echo and/or the Gloucester Citizen.
A new interview with Toyah, ahead of her Crimson Queen/Greatest Hits…Live! gig at The Astor Theatre in Kent on Saturday, published yesterday by Kent Online.
Former ‘high priestess of punk’ Toyah Willcox may have mellowed with age but she still loves donning the dramatic costumes to become her on-stage musical alter-ego, as she tells Jo Roberts
“In my youth, I was happy standing out but I love that now I can be anonymous in the street. I’d rather just turn it on for the stage,” says Toyah, whose current conventionally blonde tresses and subtle chic contrast with the flame-haired punk appearance she sported in the 1980s.
The prolific singer has released more than 20 albums in the past 35 years. Her biggest chart hits came in 1981 with the EP Four from Toyah and the single Thunder in the Mountains. Toyah forged a three-pronged career as an actress and media personality too but she will be returning to her first love when she hits the stage at Deal’s Astor Theatre this weekend with her Crimson Queen Greatest Hits show.
“It’s definitely a different part of me,” she says of her musical alter ego, known for a signature dramatic look which manages to combine a futuristic vibe with retro 1980s stylings. “The majority of the time I’m a businesswoman, but I can’t wait to get out of the office and become my on-stage persona, I love that freedom”.
• Continue reading at Kent Online.
A new Toyah article, choosing her six favourite albums, is published in today’s Express.
David Bowie, Lou Reed and Muse: Rock singer and actress Toyah Willcox’s six best albums
Toyah Willcox, 56, is the singer and actress who had hits in the 1980s with It’s A Mystery, I Want To Be Free and Thunder In The Mountains and appeared in the films Quadrophenia and Jubilee. She is touring throughout the year with The Humans and will be speaking at the new SohoCreate festival in London, June 4-6. Visit sohocreate.co.uk
DAVID BOWIE: Ziggy Stardust (EMI)
Bowie took the creative bull by the horns and steered a generation through problematic times. He went back to his rock ’n’ roll roots with this and it’s a gem. I saw him live and knew that I could only carry on living if I was a singer, writer and actress.
LOU REED: Transformer (Sony)
Bowie produced this. Reed could be off the wall but this honed and anchored him. I saw him in about 1978 and his transvestite lover was with him on stage so it was thrilling and different. It laughed in the eye of conservatism.
• Continue reading at the Express.
Toyah is featured in today’s ‘Mail On Sunday’ supplement Event, in their “Desert Island Pics”, with some excellent photos of, and memories from, Toyah:
Caged by Chris Tarrant, trapped in the jungle by the Aussie SAS… the It’s A Mystery singer’s colourful life.
1. Pants performers, 1980: That’s a promo shot of my first band. They dumped me but within months I had my debut hit. We’re all still friends, by the way. The belt I’m wearing was given to me by Lou Reed.
2. Women on top, 1986: This was the Woman Of The Year Awards at the Savoy. Diana was a beautiful person, quick to laugh and very kind. I sat next to her during lunch that day and she talked to me about how she wanted William and Harry to have normal lives, to be able to travel and do whatever they chose. She was a devoted, loving mother.
Click here to read the full article via a larger scan. (Thanks to Lärwi, of The Toyah Willcox Interview Archive, for scanning this.)
‘My motto is – never look back’
Toyah Willcox …is an English singer. She has had 13 Top 40 singles, including It’s A Mystery and I Want To Be Free, and has released 20 albums. She is also an actress and has written a number of books. Toyah and her husband divide their time between London and Worcestershire.
What are you working on at the moment?
I am on tour all year with my band, Toyah. I am also touring an acoustic show with my American band, The Humans. I have three movies to shoot this year – in the first there’s no dialogue as we all ‘speak’ like apes… it will make sense in the end.
When were you at your happiest?
Why ‘were’? I am happy now. Happiness is an art form. I find it challenging at times but the past is gone. My motto is never look back – but my 40s were fantastic.
What is your greatest fear?
In the last five years I have lost my parents and the pain is overbearing. My great fear is losing my husband and our friends. I can’t imagine being happy without my hubby.
• Continue reading at The Lady.
She’s 55 but already this year she’s high dived in Splash and made her point on Pointless – now she’s back on the road – as Tony Dewhurst discovers
Toyah Willcox has never been afraid to speak her mind, and, now she’s a 50-something, the former high priestess of punk doesn’t show any signs of putting the brakes on.
Toyah burst on to the pop scene with smash hits It’s A Mystery and I Want To Be Free, and since then she’s also enjoyed a successful career as a singer, presenter and an actress, appearing in several films, stage plays and in numerous television dramas.
“The punk revolution changed my life, but I’m as busy now as I ever was,” said Toyah, who brings her colourful greatest hits stage show to Clitheroe tonight.
“Slow down? Not a chance. “I love performing and I’m chocka with commitments.
• Continue reading at the Chorley Guardian.
A great new interview with Bill Rieflin, by The Seattle Times, ahead of next week’s The Humans/Slow Music US live dates in Seattle and Portland.
It’s Bill Rieflin times two at Slow Music and Humans show next week | Concert preview
Bill Rieflin will be on double duty next week when he appears at the Triple Door on April 14 and 15. The multi-instrumentalist, who boasts a wide-ranging resume (Ministry, R.E.M., Nine Inch Nails, Robyn Hitchcock), will headline both shows with his improvisational group Slow Music, which also includes legendary English guitarist Robert Fripp, as well as playing in the evening’s opening act, the Humans, which features Fripp’s wife, English singer/actress Toyah Willcox.
“Believe me, it’s not my idea,” Rieflin said of the double billing. It all began when Rieflin was recently out dining in London with Fripp, Willcox, R.E.M.’s Peter Buck (another Slow Music member), and Young Fresh Fellows/R.E.M. guitarist Scott McCaughey.
• Continue reading at The Seattle Times.
Issue 22 (October 2013) of Respect Magazine has just been published and included is a great four-page interview with Toyah. The magazine is available online in digital format and Toyah’s interview is on pages 48-51. She talks Love Is The Law, who she would like to collaborate with, her dream party guest list and much more. Click below to read at Issuu.
Toyah was on the cover of, and interviewed in, ‘Hot Press’ twice in 1981. This is the first, from 17th April of that year.
Tara Winter Uncovers The Many Faces Behind The Make-Up
1) Toyah is a dilletante, dabbling in fashionable performance arts for sheer self-gratification.
2) Toyah is a violent sub-cult, fronted by a spitting vixen, getting her kicks from other people’s boots.
3) Toyah is an egomaniac, keeping the musicians in her group in neutral tones, in the dark, out of the picture.
4) Toyah is arrogant, difficult, unreliable, and wears all that make-up to hide acne.
Did you spot the deliberate mistake? Stay behind, anyone who realised that all of the above areuntrue, and I’ll teach you to dance the mashed potato.
When we met on a still-foggy Belfast morning, Toyah was already wide awake, sitting with utter composure amid the bleary salesmen and snaking hoovers that characterise preprandial hotels. We would talk for half an hour, please, and then there was a plane to catch. Tom, Toyah’s boyfriend/minder, set the alarm on his watch…
• Read the full classic Toyah interview by clicking on each of the above scans.
Here is the print version of Toyah’s interview with the ‘Mirror’ from Tuesday. It is, of course, the same interview that was published on their website. This edition also includes the great photo of Toyah from 1981.
‘For 40 years I’ve survived on three hours’ sleep a night’: Toyah Willcox on her battle with insomnia
Born with a twisted spine, a clubbed right foot and one leg shorter than the other, singer and actress Toyah Willcox has also suffered from chronic insomnia for 40 years.
Now the 54-year-old, who lives with her husband, musician Robert Fripp, 66, has finally found relief through having acupuncture.
I’ve suffered from chronic insomnia for 40 years. It started when I was a 14-year-old dyslexic schoolgirl revising for my exams in Birmingham. I experienced the typical teenage stress that the pressure of cramming for exams, and then sitting there for hours on end doing them brings.
• Continue reading at the Mirror. Read Dreamscape’s news post on this here. (Thanks to Richard Smith for the scan)
Here is the print version of Toyah’s interview with the ‘Daily Express’ from last Tuesday. It is, of course, the same interview that was published on their website but this edition also includes a great photo of Toyah from 1980.
Singer and actress Toyah Willcox says a course of acupuncture ended 40 years of insomnia.
After struggling with insomnia since she was 14, Toyah Willcox is an expert at surviving on little sleep. The singer, 54, who found fame as an orange-haired punk in the Eighties, says: “I had just started revising for my GCEs and the anxiety I felt made me stop sleeping.
• Continue reading at The Express. Read Dreamscape’s news post from last week on this here. (Thanks to Richard Smith for the scan)
A new interview with Toyah, published today, by The Express.
Singer and actress Toyah Willcox says a course of acupuncture ended 40 years of insomnia.
After struggling with insomnia since she was 14, Toyah Willcox is an expert at surviving on little sleep. The singer, 54, who found fame as an orange-haired punk in the Eighties, says: “I had just started revising for my GCEs and the anxiety I felt made me stop sleeping.
“I would go to bed around 11 or 12 at night and be awake two hours later. It didn’t help me with my exams as my brain would feel foggy the next day but there was nothing anyone could do for me. No one would give a child a sleeping pill and from that point on I had chronic sleep problems.”
She comes from a family of insomniacs. “My mother never slept,” says Toyah, who was born in Birmingham, the youngest of three. “I remember her doing housework until four in the morning and then she would take me to school a few hours later.
• Continue reading at The Express.
Another quite rare, retro, Toyah article… this one from early 1981. I’m not sure which magazine but it was most likely to be one of the Sunday supplements, possibly ‘The Telegraph’ or similar: Toyah! Toyah! burning bright in the forests of the benighted acting and rock music industries. Illuminated by her twin talents for performing words and music, and fired by a scorching ambition, her dyed red hair dancing around her impish face like flames, Toyah Willcox is blazing parallel meteoric trails to exalted positions in both spheres (phew!). Click below to read. View all of our recent retro Toyah press articles & interviews here. (Thanks again to Andi)
Two retrotastic Toyah articles from early Eighties ‘Suzy’ magazine: Toyah: The Troublesome Kid!, from November 1982 (this includes some great live photos from ‘The Changeling Tour’), and A Hit Show For Toyah!, from July 1983 (with some shots of Toyah performing in Trafford Tanzi). Please click on each to view larger versions. (A big thank you to Paul Lomas)
The Tempest has just been released for the first time on Blu-ray. Here is the Time Out cover feature/interview from 1980 published the week that the film was originally released. View the magazine cover here.
Toyah reflects… stage actress, rock singer, icon of the New Wave, star of ‘Quadrophenia’ and now Derek Jarman’s ‘The Tempest’, Toyah Willcox on creating her own image. Next Thursday Derek Jarman’s film of ‘The Tempest’ opens. Toyah Willcox, late of ‘Jubilee’ and ‘Quadrophenia’ plays Miranda. Chris Auty went in search of Ms Willcox…
Click here to read at Dreamscape’s Press Archive. View all of our recent retro Classic Toyah press articles & interviews here. (Thanks to Andi)
Another retro Toyah magazine interview. This one is from ‘Cosmopolitan’ magazine, published in 1983 (Main photo by Brian Aris): Amazing and unclassifiable, Toyah – rebel and bizarre pop star – is also an accomplished actress, starring opposite Lord Olivier in a TV film of The Ebony Tower. Click below to read, and here for part two. View all of our recent retro Classic Toyah press articles & interviews here. There are yet more here. (Thanks to Andi)
